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Feature Story

BACKSTAGE WITH MAESTRO WILLIAMS

by Benjamin Irons

I left to warm-up backstage, staring more at my watch than at my sticks on the pad. The time arrived and I made my way back to Mr. Williams’s dressing room. He was all set to go, and in good spirits. I have never trusted the camera on my phone. It seems to always go blurry when I’m relying on it, so I opted for my old-time digital camera. Seeing as the camera button operated on the half-hold-to-focus-push-the-rest-to-take-the-photo principle, the Maestro’s young assistant had a really difficult time taking the picture. He just couldn’t figure it out!

Mr. Williams waited patiently while we posed and I tried to talk his assistant through it, but I could feel the Maestro start to squirm a little. He wasn’t going to wait around much longer. Just as I was worried I was going to miss my chance, I heard a low, extremely confident voice from behind me say: “Why don’t you let me try? I’m pretty sure I know how to use a camera.”

I was so relieved to have someone else try, that I didn’t even notice who I waved in behind the camera. It wasn’t until mid-photo that it hit me . . . it was Steven Spielberg!! Steven Spielberg is using my camera right now to take a photograph of John Williams and me! This was too good to be true. I saw my chance to take this to the next level, and quickly pulled him into the next photo. It was sheer luck.